moonlace
by theholmeslessnetwork
Summary: maybe she never really had his heart after all. /calypso.


_Dreaming of flying is something we crave,  
__for dreams are where we are cowardly and brave.  
__If we cannot fly without wings in this life,  
__I'd rather have dreams than an existence of strife._

-Unknown

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_moonlace_

_Calypso/Percy/Annabeth_

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It's a hot day and the sun is beating down hard on his face. He thinks maybe Apollo has some hidden grudge against him as he wipes the beads of sweat off his brow, and _holy Olympia it's hot outside _and really all he wants to do is jump into the lake, but of course he can't because he's the freaking leader of the Poseidon cabin (_and he honestly doesn't think Dionysus cares about the fact that he's the _only_ one in the Poseidon cabin) _and he has to do the chores.

"Percy!" somebody calls; he turns towards the sound of his name and, seeing somebody's arm waving at him from the back of the Demeter cabin, he heads obligingly towards it until he's right in front of Bessie's smiling face. "Percy, hi!" she says, a little breathlessly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Done with chores?"

"Yeah," he lies casually.

"Good, I need your help if you can." She makes a halfhearted attempt to scrape off some of the dirt on her arms, and, finding Percy was watching her expectantly, smiles up at him apologetically. "All our watering cans have _mysteriously _-" she scowls in the direction of the Hermes cabin "- gotten holes in them, and the Hephaestus cabins are apparently _too busy _with their little tinker toys to help us out, could you do me a huge favor and get some water for us?"

"Sure thing." With a certain relief, he heads towards the lake; _anything _to cool himself down.

"Parcy Johanason!"

Inevitable.

He fights to hold back a grimace as he turns as innocent-faced as possible towards the wine god, glaring at him with suspicious, red-rimmed eyes. "_Yes,_ Mr. D?"

"I thought I told you to finish the chores!" He thrust an arm out dramatically towards the horse stables. "The stables need cleaning, Perry!"

"I thought I was Parcy."

"Don't be insolant with me!" he bellows, the strong smell of Coke mixed with bad breath blasting in Percy's direction. "Do your chores and clean the stables!"

"I'm helping the Demeter cabin out right now. That's what you want me to do, right? Help out?" he says as innocently as he can muster (_without screwing up his face because jeez, does he ever brush his teeth?) _"I'm doing everything I can."

Dionysus stares at him for a moment, his eyes still narrowed, before letting out an exasperated breath. "Help the Demeter cabin then, Pearce, but attend to your chores afterward, or I'll turn you into a satyr! Got it?"

Inwardly, Percy rolls his eyes. "Crystal clear, Mr. D."

"Good." He stumps away bad-temperedly; _probably got a grape stuck in his throat or something, _Percy thinks amusedly.

With a tug, he balances two balls of water in his palm as he walks up the slope again, up to the Demeter cabin; Bessie sighs. "Ah, thank you. That's just what I need. Moonlace can't be overwatered, anyway," she adds as he pours the water in the empty gardening pots.

If he still had the water in his hand, he would've dropped it. "Moonlace?"

"Yeah, moonlace," she answers distantly, stroking the beautiful silver plant absentmindedly. "I thought you were the one who brought it? From... from that whole year with the Labyrinth?"

"Oh... Oh yeah." He might've done something like that, he muses later as he returns to the lake, now not paying attention to Bessie's lighthearted chatter. The Labyrinth...

Calypso's island.

Her smile breaks into his mind, a little reserved but still stunning, the full force of it hidden behind her shying away from pain. He grits his teeth, almost painfully, as he scoops up more water.

_Stop it with the images of Calypso, brain, you're over her, you're with Annabeth now._

But still, her face hovers in her mind; slightly smiling, her eyes soft and liquid, her hand reaching slowly out to caress his face tenderly. He curses inwardly as he drops the water roughly into the buckets.

Slightly puzzled and vaguely offended by Percy's sudden bad temper, Bessie looks up confusedly at him. "Um, thanks for your help, Percy," she offers, flashing him an uncertain smile. "That's all the water we need for now."

"Glad to help." He smiles tentatively back as he strides off to finish the rest of his chores.

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The moon is bright and full, the characteristic splotches obvious against the round white orb. Loose sheets flap halfheartedly, abandoned and quickly growing cold.

A single illicit figure, outlined sharply against the large pools of light cast down onto Earth, creeps slowly towards the Demeter cabin, his steps as slow and careful of that as a thief's. Normally, he wouldn't chance something as risky as this, but he couldn't just ask for the plant and not seem suspicious.

A shining, silver plant sits, as if it was waiting for him, in a small orange pot; he gently walks towards it, his fingers outstretched; his eyes flicker across the camp, watching, listening.

His fingertips brush against the moonlace and the tension escapes from his body; softly, he bends his head and presses his lips against the plant, which seems to grow brighter under his affection. He does not speak. In one, more immature part of his mind, he is scoffing at his sentimental ways; but in the more mature side, it quietly bears the other's insults, and offers up thoughts of a beautiful young woman, with caramel hair and sweet, almond-shaped eyes.

_Calypso._

In the Athena cabin, wearing her invisibility cap, Annabeth backs away from the window, a sad smile playing around the corners of her lips. Removing the hat, she slides into bed, her mind whirring, her eyes a dark, sober gray.

She falls asleep, but not before a single, silent teardrop escapes her eyes, like rain from a stormcloud, like a betrayal of her heartbreak. In the morning, she will face things. Tonight, though, she will sleep, surrounded by the soft, untroubled sounds of breathing, swathed in darkness, drowning internally in her own tears.

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Fin.


End file.
